Breakfast Briefing, 7.25.2017: PRWeek Awards 2018, IPG earnings

Get your submissions ready. The 2018 PRWeek Awards US are open for entry, with Prudential Financial’s Colin McConnell serving as chair of judges. The big night will take place on March 15 in New York. Next Thursday, PRWeek will hold an Uncovered event, at which aspiring entrants can glean advice from past and present jurors on how to craft a winning entry.

Another disappointing earnings report. Interpublic Group’s Constituency Management Group unit, which contains the bulk of its PR firms such as Weber Shandwick and Golin as well as other marketing specialist shops such as Jack Morton and Octagon, reported a 2.2% drop in organic revenue in the second quarter to $347.1 million. The holding company as a whole reported a 0.4% organic revenue increase to $1.9 billion. Last week, rival Omnicom Group reported a 0.3% decline in second quarter organic revenue for its PR firms, and holding company CEO John Wren issued a stark warning about looking for more "hunters" in PR leadership roles.

More earnings, and awards news. Revenue from the 2017 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity was up 7% in 2017, despite "slightly reduced" award entry and delegate numbers. The earnings from Cannes equal more than a quarter of parent company Ascential’s income, it said in an earnings statement.

Here’s some earnings season comic relief.The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallonplayfully said goodbye to former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Monday night, splicing together clips from the podium into a rendition of the Gloria Gaynor classic "I Will Survive."